In all the years of watching footy, with one exception, always saw refs give subconsciously give the benefit of the doubt to the best teams. Has happened in Serie A, EPL, La Liga, CL, EL, WCs.
The only exception has been us in the past 6 seasons. (The only exception to this was in 2014-15 where we benefited from ref mistakes in both Torino games and vs Chievo. But even in that season, Roma received favors in 6 of 7 games or 5 of 6 games in Dec and Jan, a streak I've never seen before.)
On the other hand, Napoli and Roma continuously benefit from these "subconscious benefits of doubt" for being top-3 teams. When Milan was in top-3 last season, it was soft PKs and favorable calls galore again. Their games against Bologna, Chievo, and both games against Sassuolo were ridiculous. Previous season when Inter was in #1 spot with Mancini, they too were receiving these favorable calls.
You've to be extra special to moan about us benefiting from ref calls these days.